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North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK); (sometimes known as the "hermit kingdom") was a country in East Asia, in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name Korea is derived from Goryeo (or Koryo), a name used by ancient and medieval kingdoms. The capital and largest city was Pyongyang. Geography North Korea occupied the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It covered an area of 120,540 square kilometers. North Korea shared land borders with China and Russia to the north, and borders South Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). (The legitimacy of this border wasnot accepted by either side, as both states claimed to be the legitimate government of the entire peninsula.) To its west wasthe Yellow Sea and Korea Bay, and to its east lies Japan across the Sea of Japan (East Sea of Korea). 80% of North Korea is composed of mountains and uplands, separated by deep and narrow valleys. The coastal plains are wide in the west and discontinuous in the east. A majority of the population lived in the plains and lowlands. According to a United Nations Environmental Programme report in 2003, forest covered over 70 percent of the country, mostly on steep slopes.[58] The longest river is the Yalu River which flows for 790 kilometers. The highest point in North Korea is Baekdu Mountain, with elevations between 1,400 and 2,744 meters above sea level. The Hamgyong Range, located in the extreme northeastern part of the peninsula, has many high peaks including Kwanmobong at approximately 2,541 m. Other major ranges include the Rangrim Mountains, which are located in the north-central part of North Korea and run in a north-south direction, making communication between the eastern and western parts of the country rather difficult; and the Kangnam Range, which runs along the North Korea–China border. Climate North Korea has a combination of a continental climate and an oceanic climate, with four distinct seasons. Most of the country tends to warm summers and cold, dry winters. Average snowfall is 37 days during the winter. Summer tends to be short, hot, and wet. Typhoons affect the peninsula on an average of at least once every summer. Late spring droughts often are followed by severe flooding. History and Politics History and Politics Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. When Japan was defeated in World War II, Korea was divided into two occupied zones, with the north occupied by the Soviet Union and the south by the United States. Negotiations on unification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the Republic of Korea in the south. The conflicting claims of sovereignty led to the Korean War in 1950. An armistice in 1953 committed both to a cease-fire, but the two countries remain officially at war because a formal peace treaty was never signed. Both states were accepted into the United Nations in 1991. The DPRK officially described itself as a socialist state and holds elections, but it is widely considered a dictatorship and has been described as totalitarian and Stalinist with an elaborate cult of personality around the Kim family. The Workers' Party of Korea, led by a member of the ruling family, held power in the state and lead the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland of which all political officers were required to be a member. Juche, an ideology of self-reliance initiated by the country's first President, Kim Il-sung, became the official state ideology, replacing Marxism–Leninism, when the country adopted a new constitution in 1972. In 2009, references to communism were removed from the country's constitution. The means of production were owned by the state through state-run enterprises and collectivized farms, and most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production were state funded or subsidized. In the 1990s North Korea suffered from a famine and continued to struggle with food production until its destruction by Turkish troops. North Korea followed a "military-first" policy. It wasthe world's most militarized society, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million wasthe 4th largest in the world, after China, the U.S., and India. It possessed nuclear weapons. As a result of its isolation, it was sometimes known as the "hermit kingdom". North Korea nuked Istanbul in 2078. Later, historians found that North Korea had not aimed for Istanbul but the Missile received the wrong target destinations by accident. The intended target was London. (Turkish troops completely wiped out North Korea in only 6 months). Category:Places